“It was a great venue and the fans were very enthusiastic,” Houston head coach Dominic Kinnear said. “If we get the chance to come back here again, the answer would be yes.”

Houston avoided a tie when Dominic Oduro scored the eventual game-winning goal with nearly six minutes remaining in the match to break a 1-all tie.

Heat forward Felix Garcia earlier scored on a breakaway not even two minutes into the match to give Laredo a 1-0 lead. Garcia lined a shot over the head of Dynamo goalkeeper Tally Hall and into the back of the net.

Brad Davis answered with a goal for Houston early in the second half to tie the score, which would be it for the scoring until Oduro’s clutch goal in the closing minutes.

“It was fun and I wouldn’t mind coming back,” Davis said of Corpus Christi.

Goalies Hall and Tyler Deric combined for three saves for Dynamo, while goalkeepers Raul Herrera and Rodrigo Avila combined for six saves for the Heat.

Corpus Christi resident Robin Jifibahlool’s son, 13-year-old Hunter Williams, was one of several hundred local youth and children that greeted the Dynamo and Heat players when they came onto the field before the match.

“All of the kids are thrilled (to be able to do that),” Robin said. “It’s helping Hunter strive more because that’s what he wants to be — a pro soccer player.”

Jifibahool’s sons, 6-year-old son Ali Jifibahlool and 7-year-old son Ammar Jifibahlool, also took in the match with Robin and her husband Samer Jifibahool.

“I never dreamed I would be watching them play in Corpus,” Robin said of the Dynamo. “All of my kids have wanted to go to Houston to watch them but it’s a little hard.”

“You just don’t know how fast it really is until you come and catch one of these games,” Abel said. “It’s a lot faster than what you see on television.”

Abel and Lisa said they hope to bring Kaleb back to watch pro soccer at Whataburger Field next year as well.

“We’ve had a good experience and I hope they continue to bring things like this to Corpus Christi,” Abel said. “It’s a growing city and we need to have more professional type stuff over here. Hopefully, they’ll make this a yearly (event).”